Why it works: Apple and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,478 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Raspberry or Blackberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the fruit
In a large pot, combine the berries and tart apples with just enough water to prevent the apples from scorching.
Cook the mixture over medium heat, boiling hard for two hours.
To prevent burning, use an extra stove lid or an inverted pie pan under the kettle.
Add sugar and finish
After two hours, add the white sugar and boil hard for an additional 20 minutes.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Apple and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Berries
- Provide the main flavor and color of the jam.
- Tart apples
- Add natural pectin that helps the jam thicken and set.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it set and preserve its texture.
The step that matters
Boiling hard after adding the sugar. Sugar added to fruit must be boiled hard so the pectin and acid can work together to set the jam. The bottom of the pot can scorch during this long cook, so a heat diffuser or pie pan helps spread the heat.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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